Project Soul: Chapter I From Darkness
I was staring into the darkness for only the darkness before me knows how long. I couldn't move my body and I couldn't tell if I was moving my eyes because I couldn't feel anything.
No feeling. There was nothing but black. It wasn't hot, it wasn't cold, it wasn't even lukewarm. I felt numb. Numb physically, metaphorically, and metaphysically. Again, there was nothing for longest time and the shortest of time.
I didn't question why I was here or how I am acknowledging my existence in this darkness. There was no point. It was my supposed sight and nothing.
I don't know who I am or what my name is, all I know is that I exist.
Has it already been a few seconds? Or a couple of minutes? Months, years, decades, I don't know for there is no way to keep track of time.
I try to keep track by counting but the numbers fade from me just as fast I count.
It's been a few years already. I can't remember. When did I start?
I'm starting to hear beeps, sirens and loud bangs. I don't know how I can tell that they're such noises but I feel as if I know them like the back of my hoof.
Hoof. Why hoof? Too many questions with nopony to answer them.
Hoof. Pony.
Things are seeping in. Ideas, knowledge, objects, places amongst other things.
It's covering me mind and body. It's overwhelming! It burns! The pain!
I squirm in pain. I can feel my movements and I try harder, something to stop the pain. HARDER!!!
A tiny speck of white light is before me though it feels close and yet looks so far away. It's getting bigger and noises louder, the pain more unbearable.
Anger from the pain. Sadness that I'm feeling pain.
Emotions. Happiness, et cetera. The notion of emotions numbed the pain for a second.
Second. It was an actual second. 1, 2, 3, pain. Back again and stronger than before.
The white light had grown bigger and from it did the noises get louder and with the noises, new noises.
I heard yelling. Full of honor, glory, and freedom. One noise, no! Not a noise, a voice. It said..."Get up."
Get up?
"GET UP!"
"But the pain!" I said back.
"GET UP OR I LEAVE YOU HERE TO DIE!"
Die? I didn't want it.
With every ounce of force I struggle to open my eyes. Little by little I began to see what lied behind the veil of black.
The mass white that enveloped my eyes was slowly fading and while it faded a figure was becoming more and more clear.
"Who. Are. You." I muttered to the...Pony?
"I'm the pony saving your flank, now get up!" His yelling was unbearable compared to the explosions and sirens.
I try to move but my limbs fail me. "I. can't. Help." The yellow pony who is going to save my life says something but I couldn't hear suddenly he moves closer to me and uses one of his hooves to get a hold of me. Next thing I knew I was standing up albeit leaning on him with one of my hooves around his neck. I try to make it easier but the more force I tried the more I felt the darkness creeping back. I didn't want to go back there ever again.
I try to keep opening my eyes to keep the darkness away but it's getting harder.
I didn't know where I was. When I would look around there would be white everywhere with a red plus with a snake wrapped around it on the walls. And when I close and open my eyes again the place would look like it was destroyed. Confusing to me.
As I open my eyes again for the tenth time I noticed another pony had come to help me move though that's all I remember before I closed my eyes and didn't open them. No.
"NO!" I shot up eyes wide open, my heart going a hundred miles per hour. I take in my surroundings. A room.
The room was plain as plain can be. A door, a single cabinet, a mirror, and the bed I sat on.
I stare at my hooves. I remove the sheets that had been on me and stood up from the bed.
My legs were stiff so I decided to stretch them out a bit. Once I finished I walked over to the mirror to take a look at myself and what I saw sickened me.
My coat was black as was my mane and tail as well as my iris color. I looked like the darkness I hated. I hated myself, I wanted to break the mirror and never look at one ever again though my curiosity was stronger than my disgust so I still detailed myself.
My hair was short and swept backwards. My tail long and straight. I check my flank to see nothing but the darkness that enveloped me. No cutie mark. I also seemed to be an earth pony.
I turn my head away from the mirror and tilt my head. How is it that I know what I am and what these things are yet I don't know who I am or my history.
I hear the door make a noise and instinctively dash behind the cabinet.
As it fully opened a mare walked in, specifically a blue Pegasus with a white mane. "Hello? Are you in here?" She called out.
I poke my head further around the cabinet and she spots me. "Umm hello." Caustiously I move out in the open. "Hello miss."
"Are you feeling alright? Any nauseating headaches, stomach pains, and/or stiffness...In the legs of course." I see her blush and weakly gives off a giggle. For some reason I also felt embarrassed as if there was some kind of joke that wasn't proper. "A bit stiff...in the legs." I came off sounding like her and blushed even redder, as did she.
"Well hehe that is good to hear now if you'd come with me we have to take you to get your health checked. Oh and by the way, my name is Ocean Blue. What's yours?"
My name? I thought yet nothing came up. "I don't know." She frown and told me to follow her and so I did.
The place that I was in was odd, it was like a combination of a hotel and a hospital. I couldn't quite describe it from all the ponies running and flying about.
Finally we reached a door and Ocean had pulled out a card with her wing and slid it through the keycard slot. We enter the door and she tells me to take a seat and she leaves the room closing the door behind her.
I sit on the chair and begin to notice the room. I'm too curious about my surroundings yet I feel as if I should remember every single detail I see. Everything looked like a normal room where one gets checked up. After a minute or so she comes back in.
"So it seems we had already gotten a blood sample from you when you were passed out and the results had just barely come in. Everything seems to be good, you're healthy. Since that's out of the way I had direct orders to escort you to the barracks for something classified."
"Classified?" I ask.
"Can't really say, above me and what not. Before we go I'll ask again if you're feeling alright?"
I look at myself and conclude that nothing was really wrong. "I am alright Miss Ocean."
"Just call me Ocean Blue or just Ocean, those formalities are for the higher-ups now c'mon the barracks aren't that far."
As we made our way there I had the feeling I was being watched. Not by the ponies around us, they were too busy to notice another face in the crowd, but by some other force. I shake the feeling and my curiosity had sprung up again. "Ocean...Where am I?"
She didn't turn to look at me but simply said. "We're in Canterlot, Celestia's castle."
Celestia. A picture rushed to my mind. A large slender pony with wings and a horn fully outfitted head-to-hoof, even the wings, in a sleek golden armor with blue glowing lights moving about in the crevices of the armor. The face obstructed by a solid blue V-shaped visor. a simple "Oh." was all I gave.
Flashbacks to when I awoke from the darkness begin to come back to me. The stallion who saved my life from the unknown force who wanted to kill me. I couldn't remember what he looked like. "Ocean?"
"Hm?" This time she had turned her head to look at me.
"Do you know of the stallion who saved me from death?" She looked forward In deep thought.
"I really don't know. One of Celestia's secret agents had brought you in, a cyan pegasus mare with a rainbow mane. No stallion was with her."
A mare? Where did he go? I wanted to thank him. Maybe when I see this mare I can ask her what happened to him.
We stopped before another door. "So this is where we split up. If you ever remember your name be sure to tell me if we ever see each other again." She smiles warmly. "I'll be sure to tell you Ocean. "
She hugs me and walks away into the crowd. "Bye."
I make my way through the door and sure enough I was in the barracks. I noticed it was empty other than the single guard standing in front of a door on the far side of the room. I walk to the guard and he steps out the way and motions for me to go through.
As I walked through the door I notice four ponies lounging about and spot me walking through the door. "OH LOOK-Y HE'S HERE!" I heard one of the ponies yell next thing I knew a pink mare was in my vision. "Hello my name is Pinkie Pie what's yours?!" She was full of adrenaline. I felt nausea just from how much energy she emitted from those words alone. "I don't know my name." She instantly frowned and just as quick did a large smile appear on her face. "Well that's not very good at all! I mean if I didn't know my name then nopony would and if nopony knew my name they wouldn't talk to me and if they didn't talk to me I wouldn't be able to make friends because friends have to know each others names and if I couldn't make friends I'd be sad all the time and probably really really grouchy and if I was grouchy even nice ponies wouldn't want to talk to me!"
I stood their wide-eyed. She made my head pulse with pain. "Pinkie you're giving him a headache will you tone it down? We're here for debriefing, not to give our new member a severe headache." I looked over to who talked. A lavender unicorn with a V-shaped mask and visor that was the same color as her coat. Her hair covered the top section of the visor and from the mask a thin tubing led up to a small clasp that was around the base of her horn.
"I say we let him listen to Pinkie Pie, it's the only way he will get used to her talking do much." Another one had spoken. A cyan mare...With a rainbow mane! I run up the mare. "Do you know what happened to the yellow stallion who saved me?!" My sudden outburst had made her twitch. "You mean CC? He had some more important things to do than haul you out of that battle zone." She casually said.
Battle zone? I was in a fight? "You know Rainbow Dash he hates it when you call him CC, I think you should respect that seeing as he can pull rank on you and have you punished. Commander Caramel doesn't like it when ponies disrespect one another." The Pegasus scoffed.
"Oh please Twilight, we work directly under Princess Celestia, I think that we outrank him."
"Oh really? Did you also forget so does he and that he runs the entire Solar and Lunar army?" This Twilight had countered back.
"Enough with the fighting you two, we're all equals, even the lowest of rank can do something we can't." A white mare had pitched in. She was right though. Every single pony was valuable. I double take. The white unicorn mare was astoundingly beautiful. She had the same set up as the lavender unicorn only difference was that hers mask was white and her visor a soft blue.
"Um can I help you?" She caught me staring. "Oh I'm no, it's just that you're quite beautiful." She blushed. "Oh stop it you!" The cyan Pegasus groaned. "Oh not this again."
"Hush you, if you actually bothered to made yourself presentable Rainbow Dash you'd also have all the stallions complementing you."
"As if I'd want-" Her sentence was cut off by the lavender unicorn. "Girls! The Princess is here!" immediately all four had rushed to form a line. "Hey rookie get over here!" I trot up to the line and stand as well.
A few seconds later the princess had entered through the door. Just like I remembered her to look like. She stood before us looking more majestic than I had invisioned.
"Hello my little ponies and for the new member of Magnum Arcanum Squad Harmony, welcome to Equestria and more importantly, welcome to the fight against Discord and Nightmare's Legion."
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Oh Celestia have mercy on me, another story exploded out of me.
This story was inspired by the song Ververg by Ani feat. B as well as the artwork for the song that appeared on Cytus.
This time I will NOT write another story and continue on to the Pony Never Cry story, I promise lulz.
As always Comment & Rate.